Issue:
The Washington State Department of Ecology ("Department of Ecology") and the United States Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service ("NFS") is preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement ("SEIS") for the construction and operation of a mining and milling operation on Buckhorn Mountain near Chesaw, Washington.

Background:
A Final Environmental Impact Statement ("FEIS") for the Crown Jewel Gold Mine was released to the public on February 7, 1997. At the time of the FEIS, Battle Mountain Gold ("BMG") was proposing to establish an open pit, cyanide-leach-mining operation at Buckhorn Mountain. After several legal proceedings, BMG was subsequently denied a Clean Water Act, Section 401 permit and ultimately decided to halt the development of the proposed operation.

In July 2003, Crown Resources Corporation ("Crown") submitted a Plan of Operations ("POO") to the Department of Ecology and the NFS proposing to develop the former BMG site as an underground gold mine with a satellite milling operation. Crown indicated in the 2003 POO that although significant differences between the BMG project and the Crown project exist, the information provided in the 1997 FEIS is relevant to the new proposed underground mining operation. However, the Department of Ecology and the NFS provided notice on September 5, 2003 of their intent to prepare an SEIS to evaluate the potential new impacts from Crown's proposed action.

RtE Position:
Our position is that, based on the fundamental differences between the BMG proposal, upon which the FEIS was prepared, and Crown's proposal, an entirely new Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") is required. The environmental and social impacts from historical mining operations throughout the world have been widely documented and are the subject of much public debate. Given that the proposed location of the operation is valued for its natural beauty and ecological aesthetic, new alternatives, including a no action alternative must be considered and evaluated. We are especially concerned that the new mine would pose a threat to water resources, water quality, aquatic resources and wildlife, air quality, endangered species and would have deleterious effects on both the communities surrounding the mine, but also pose a threat to public health and safety. We have provided the Department of Ecology and the NFS with our concerns and have listed a large number of issues that we believe must be addressed before a decision can be made.

Links:

RtE-BuckhornMtnLetter.doc

Rock the Earth letter of November 10, 2003 concerning Buckhorn Mountain Project, a Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Crown Jewel Mine, Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, Okanogan County WA (68 FR 52736)